Saint Paul, Minn.- Incremental increases are being made for students overall in SaintPaul Public Schools (SPPS), according to results of the MCA-II testresults which were released by the Minnesota Department of Education.The results also suggest that a persistent achievement gap betweenstudents is neither shrinking nor widening.

"I am pleased tosee that our efforts continue to show improvement," said SPPSSuperintendent Meria Carstarphen. "While our progress is steady, it isnot fast enough. We are optimistic that over the next year, with ourincreased academic supports, we will reduce the achievement gap andalso will see a greater increase in performance across the board."

Overall, when compared to last year, SPPS students made gains in both reading and math.

Theresults also show that since the first administration of the math testin 2006, the District has made evident gains, an average of 8.5percentage points in the key grades from fourth to seventh grade.Across all grades tested (3-8 and 11) the average increase is 5.7percentage points. Also notable is that three of SPPS studentsubgroups, Caucasian, ELL and Latino, had higher proficiency rates thantheir statewide peers, with Latino students making gains that outpacedtheir statewide peers when compared with last year.

In reading,results have remained relatively unchanged from 2006, an average ofless than one percent, across grades 3 - 8 and 10. There are signs ofgains in some subgroups during that same time including a two percentincrease in the number of African American students scoring proficientand a three percent increase in the number of both Latino and Caucasianstudents scoring proficient.

When compared to last year, SPPSincreased the percent of students passing both the reading and writingGRAD test by two and three percentage points respectively. There wereincreases of two percent in reading and three percent in writing. Nosuch comparisons are available for the math GRAD, however, because thisis the first administration of that exam statewide.

A summary of some SPPS school results, include:

Elementary schools:

• Elementaryschools which had more than 80 percent of their students proficient inboth reading and math: Capitol Hill Gifted and Talented Magnet,L'Etoile du Nord French Immersion, St. Anthony Park Elementary, HoraceMann School and Randolph Heights School.
• Schools with the largest increase in the percent of students proficientin math include North End Elementary, Mississippi Creative Arts Magnet,Roosevelt Elementary West Side School of Excellence, J.J. HillMontessori Magnet and Phalen Lake Elementary.